The Church Has Gotten Fat

John Daly is a former PGA golfer known for his overweight build and unhealthy lifestyle.  Despite spending more time in bars than in the gym, he had a remarkable career. He once said, “That’s why I never get injured. You can pull a muscle, but you can’t pull fat.” 

The church in the West has gotten flabby. For ages, Christianity in America had privilege, priority, and influence in society. There are many advantages to this. It’s like playing a home game. There are also liabilities. You get lazy, spoiled, and selfish. We have come to love American comfort and convenience.  ​

Even as Christendom has waned, the church still has extraordinary advantages in America. Clergy housing allowances and church non-profit status. The ability to freely operate schools and universities. The freedom to teach and worship according to our conscience and confession. There is always a headline about some religious freedom being under attack, but historically Christians in America are lavishly blessed. To see genuine persecution, go to Yemen or North Korea.  

In this context, we need to flex the sacrificial muscle. This muscle burns when you use it, but you must keep going. This muscle calls for the body to endure, suffer, and even lose. We are called to engage this muscle when Jesus said, “Take up your cross and follow me” (Matt. 16:24-26).  When Paul says, “It has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake” (Phil. 1:29).  Dietrich Bonhoeffer gets at this when he writes, “When Christ calls a man he bids him come and die.”  

Numerous organizations and denominations lobby for religious liberty in Washington D.C. I am for religious liberty, but it is not my primary battle. Could it be the will of God that we lose some things and gain some faith? Jesus never talked about his “rights” nor told his followers to stand up for theirs. The strange logo of Christianity is a cross. Our Lord did not defend his rights, but “emptied himself” (Phil. 2:7). He told his disciples, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:10). 

Could it be the will of God that we lose some things and gain some faith?"

American Christians know very little of sacrifice. Yet through the history of the church, sacrificial love has been the most powerful witness. Unjust suffering is redemptive. The ancient refrain says, “The blood of martyrs is the seed of the church.”  

This moment is a gut check for us: Will you still preach the gospel when you don’t get a housing allowance? When you’re no longer tax exempt? When you don’t get paid a salary or have benefits? When you lose your reputation? When you are unjustly targeted and must turn the other cheek?  When you are jailed?  This is the heritage of the prophets and apostles.  The church is strongest when she sacrifices the most.  

The church is strongest when she sacrifices the most." 

Here is where we learn from global brothers and sisters. Christians from other contexts demonstrate the sacrificial muscle. I know immigrant Christians who left everything back home, not for “a better life in America,” but because they know America needs the gospel.  They left careers as doctors, architects, and electrical engineers to come to the U.S. and drive for Uber and Fed Ex. They know that America is a mission frontier, and they are willing to sacrifice to be “salt and light” in a new land. We are humbled when we see the sacrificial muscle flexed in extremity.  

Are you a church leader? Come join us for the Loved+Sent Summit. This is an organic movement of the church, flexing the sacrificial muscle.  It's a "reverse conference." We're not asking what we can get, but what we can give. A line we've used is, "The Summit is free, but participation will cost you." 

What is God calling us to sacrifice?  Where must we lose in order to gain?  ​